In ancient Mesopotamia, women were not excluded from written culture. Some were professional scribes, trained to work in palaces for queens and princesses; others worked among consecrated women in order to limit their contact with male personnel. Female administrators are also known in palaces; some of them were probably able to do basic accounting and to read. There are also references to writing activities for women who were not professional scribes but who belonged to royal families or to wealthy families, and who were able to write letters and contracts on their own behalf.